Anglo-Zulu War

The Anglo-Zulu War was fought from 11 January to 4 July 1879 when the British Empire fought to annex the Zulu Kingdom of South Africa. The war, although brief, was notable for the massacre of the British army at the Battle of Isandlwana and for the unlikely British victory against a superior Zulu army at the Battle of Rorke's Drift. The war ended when the Zulu chief Cetshwayo kaMpande agreed to surrender to the British, who annexed Zululand into their growing South African colony.

Background
The Natalia Republic lasted only five years before the British took it over, forcing the Boers to move west and north. To the west they established the independent Orange Free State, to the north the Transvaal republic.

But the British had not finished expanding their southern African territories. Anxious to claim territory before the Germans or Portuguese, in 1877 they annexed the Transvaal. The British government in London was anxious to avoid war with the Zulus, but in southern Africa the British High Commissioner Henry Bartle Frere and the commander of the British forces, Lieutenant-General Frederic Thesiger - soon to be Lord Chelmsford - knew that sooner or later war would come: so it might as well be sooner. Gambling on a quick victory, and taking advantage of slow communications between London and South Africa, they took the initiative. Using a minor border incident as an excuse, they demanded that Zulu Chief Cetshwayo disband his army, knowing full well he would not.

War
Cetshwayo duly refused, and in January 1879 the British marched across the Buffalo River into Zululand at Rorke's Drift - confident of success - far too confident, indeed, because Lord Chemlsford took only 4,000 or so men with him. After pitching a small camp at Rorke's Drift, Chelmsford established a second, larger camp at Isandhlwana on 20 January, but did nothing to fortify it. Worse, he let himself be lured away with 2,500 troops by Zulu scouts, leaving 1,700 men behind, including most of the 1st Battalion of the 24th Regiment of Foot, with Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Pulleine in command. Chelmsford fatally underestimated the military ability of the Zulu forces, 20,000 of whom on 22 January launched a typically disciplined attack on the British camp at Isandhlwana in their traditional encircling buffalo-horns-and-chest formation, under the command of generals Ntshingwayo Khoza and Mavumengwana kaNdlela. Although armed with a few rifles of their own, the Zulus still relied on the stabbing spear and club as their main weapons, and despite suffering 2,000 casualties to both rifle and bayonet, by sheer weight of numbers they eventually overwhelmed the camp and slaughtered the British forces to a man.

Defiance at Rorke's Drift
If Isandhlwana represented one of the worst defeats in British military history, what followed later the same day and all the following night at Rorke's Drift has entered British military folklore. There, at the mission station, from behind hastily constructed ramparts made from wagons and grain bags, a small garrison of 139 men, led by Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, held off 3,000 Zulus led by Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande. At one point the two sides engaged in desperate hand-to-hand combat. The fighting lasted for ten hours, the Zulus finally withdrawing at dawn when they saw Lord Chelmsford's relief column approaching in the distance.

Cetshwayo's last stand
News of Isandhlwana outraged London. The British government sent reinforcements and Sir Garnet Wolseley was ordered to take over command from Chelmsford. Cetshwayo, meanwhile, was anxious to cease hostilities and end the slaughter. He knew that there would be no more Isandhlwanas for the Zulu nation. Chelmsford, though, rejected all peace overtures from Cetshwayo and was anxious to crush the Zulus before Wolseley could arrive and steal his thunder.

The showdown took place on 4 July 1879 at the Zulu capital of Ulindi. Here, a British force of some 4,200 men armed this time with two Gatling guns and artillery, as well as the usual rifles, formed a hollow square formation, mounted troops covering the sides and rear, and awaited the Zulu attack. At least 15,000 Zulus soon surrounded the British in typical horn formation, stamping their feet and banging their shields as one. But this time when they attacked, none got close enough to use a club or stabbing spear. Hundreds were killed by rifle and machine-gun fire, or by canister shot. Many were then chased down by British cavalry, who exacted revenge for Isandhlwana by butchering the wounded. The Zulus were routed, their chief was taken prisoner, and their nation was defeated.

Aftermath
Following the defeat of the Zulus, the British took control of all of southern Africa. After the Battle of Ulindi, Cetshwayo was exiled to Cape Town and later visited Britain. The British allowed him to return home in 1883 as a client-king. Arguments between rivals for the throne led to civil war the same year. Cetshwayo was defeated once again at Ulundi and died in 1884. In 1887 Zululand became part of Natal, which joined the independent Union of South Africa in 1910.

In 1880 Transvaal rebelled against British rule and defeated the British in 1881 at Laing's Neck and Majuba Hill before Britain recognized its independence. Britain, however, continued to pressurize Transvaal and the Orange Free State and in 1899 both republics declared war on Britain. After defeat in 1902, they eventually joined the Union of South Africa. In 1905 neighboring Swaziland, under Transvaal's control since 1895, became a British protectorate.